The Cherry Blossom that has yet to Bloom
by Mouth Sealed
Summary: When Sakuraya comes into the family, over-jealous Psyche is scared that he might steal Tsugaru from him. He tells Shitsuo—who isn't attached to anyone at the moment—to keep Sakuraya away from Tsugaru. Unfortunately, Tsugaru's kindness sweeps Sakuraya's feet away and he falls in love him instead of Shitsuo! How will fate prevail between the four of them?
1. Chapter 1

**:: THREE DAYS EARLIER**

"A new guy!?" Psyche bounced happily. The pink orbs of his eyes were glimmering in excitement.

The infamous information broker of Shinjuku, Izaya Orihara, who—to everyone's surprise, should they have known about this—was currently living with his archenemy, had gathered their twins together to discuss about an addition to their 'big family'. Sitting together on two sofas, were Izaya and his twins, and Shizuo's. It must have looked very bizarre to other people's eyes, that there were four Izayas sitting side by side and four Shizuo's look-a-likes just across them. If they weren't wearing different clothes, no one could really tell who was who.

It was the blond in pristine white suit who first scoffed over the idea. "So I have to anticipate_ yet _another Izaya? Like Hell," Delic rolled his eyes disapprovingly. Although he knew that he was being a hypocrite, as he was so happy when Hibiya first came into the family because he had been having unrequited love toward Psyche since forever. But now that he had finally settled with Hibiya, another Izaya would only mean more pain in the ass to him.

"Delic-san, I think we have to welcome him like we did to Hibiya-san," said Tsugaru, the oldest of the twins, as he smiled kindly.

"I don't wanna!" Delic insisted. "Hibiya was different; he was really mesmerizing!" Delic turned his head toward his beloved boyfriend. "I fell in love with him on the first sight…" he then jumped from his seat and knelt to his little prince, Hibiya, taking his petite, pale hands into his own. He looked deep into the golden eyes of his lover, who in turn lowered his head to hide his embarrassment.

"Delic! Not in front of everyone!" Hibiya blushed red like a tomato.

The original, Izaya, who had been watching in silent as he waited for a chance to speak, couldn't waste his time anymore and finally spoke up. He knotted his eyebrows in frustration as he massaged his temples. "Look, I don't expect you to be friends with him. Just don't go around bullying him."

"H—How does he look like?" Hibiya replied, just to keep the conversation going since Delic wasn't stopping on holding his hands; rather, the blond was now stroking his face toward his fingers.

"Well, he wears exactly the same attire as Tsugaru… Only his was pink."

Psyche blinked for a few times, still couldn't fully process Izaya's words. "Can we swap clothes? I wanna wear the same clothes as Tsu-chan, too!"

"No, Psyche. I wouldn't be able to differentiate you two, then." Izaya sighed. How in the world could a genius like him produce a dumb, over-excited person like Psyche? "He'll be in Tokyo in three days, but unfortunately I can't pick him up because I have some work to do.

"So… Any volunteers?"

Everyone was in silence, one looking at the other.

"I'm afraid I can't," Hachimenroppi, the youngest twin of Izaya's, broke the silence. "Tsukishima and I have made some plans to fix his glasses that day."

"Ro—Roppi-san!" the blond in glasses cut him off, before turning to Izaya. "Izaya-san, if I really have to pick him up, it can wait!"

"Tsukishima…" Hachimenroppi's shoulder drooped in disappointment. He knew Tsukishima all too well, how selfless he was, and how he would easily put anyone else's matters before his own. Knowing that arguing with him wouldn't bring him anywhere and instead make Tsukishima sad, Hachimenroppi glanced hopefully at Izaya, telling him that he had been looking forward to this date.

Looking at his own face with big puppy eyes made Izaya cringe inwardly. "Fine, fine. Don't worry, I won't disturb your date," he waved his hands defeatedly. The raven then turned his bossy sight to Delic and Hibiya, in which Delic smirked mischievously in return.

"Too bad we can't, either," Delic put his index finger in show as he clucked his tongue. "Y'see, the musk-scented and almond-flavored lube, Hibiya's favorite, had ran out. So we have to buy some more, right, my little prince?" he shamelessly raised his eyebrow toward Hibiya.

"DELIC!" Hibiya bashed Delic's head, his lips trembling in shame.

'_Why is it so hard for me to find someone to go to the airport, damn it…_' Izaya grunted to himself. "So the rest are just you three," Izaya glared menacingly at Psyche, Tsugaru, and Shitsuo. "You three better come up with a nice excuse, or else…"

"I can go," Tsugaru smiled gently without a doubt. His chatterbox boyfriend, on the other hand, was against the idea. For some reason he panicked, fidgeting all over as he grabbed the sleeves of Tsugaru's hakama, before looking up at Izaya. "We—We can't, either!" he put on a tough face despite his shaky voice.  
"I just remembered that I need new batteries for my headphones!"

"Batteries? I have some, Psyche." his counterpart replied in between his painful groans from Hibiya's punches to his stomach.

"E—Eh? B—But I don't wanna burden you, Delic-chan!" Psyche was nearly in tears because he couldn't come up with more excuse. He tugged Tsugaru's sleeves relentlessly, begging the latter to go with his idea. "Right, Tsu-chan? Right?"

"You look like you don't want me to go so much, Psyche… What happened?" Tsugaru, not getting any clue about Psyche's behavior, stroked the raven's hair to soothe him.

"I—I—" Psyche's eyes traveled around anxiously, before stopping at Izaya who was glaring at him with narrowed, accusing eyes. Like a dog with its tail between its legs, he slowly lowered his eyes before finding another blond; this one was wearing a butler's uniform. Finally finding a glimmer of hope, his eyes brightened.

"Right!" Psyche clapped his hands happily. "Shitsu-chan can go!" he was so relieved that now he and Tsugaru didn't have to go.

"Are you okay with this?" Izaya looked at the red-eyed butler. '_You better say yes or I'll throw you useless bunch of stupid clones from the top of Tokyo Tower…_' he cursed inwardly.

"Yes," Shitsuo nodded.

Izaya sighed in relief. At least a clone was made with favorable treats.

"I'm counting on you, Shitsuo."

* * *

When night came, everyone had returned to their own rooms, including the butler, Shitsuo. As always, he spent his night reading an advanced-level cooking book, to find new recipes for everyone to enjoy. When he first came into this world, he was so taken aback over the fact that everyone who lived here had such low-nutrition daily intakes. The gap of each person's liking was so wide that it took him so long to figure out how to work things out.

For example, Shizuo liked sweets so much he rarely ate anything else except deserts. Izaya, on the other hand, loved sushi—tuna belly sushi, in particular, and hated sweets because it reminded him of Shizuo. To make things fair, Shitsuo had to make delicious deserts for every meal, and it should be delicious enough that Shizuo had no choice but to eat his main meal first before having the deserts as a 'reward'.

Everything was complicated but somehow Shitsuo managed.

"Hot white chocolates with rum and marshmallows?" Shitsuo mumbled to himself as he read the cooking book intently.

He was about to take a note when he heard a knock on his door.

"Shitsu-chan, are you awake?" Psyche's whisper was heard from behind the door.

"Yes." Shitsuo answered concisely.

He was about to get up and open the door when Psyche stopped him, "Ah, don't bother, Shitsu-chan! It's already late and I don't think Tsu-chan would be happy knowing us meeting at night…"

Shitsuo knotted his eyebrows, thinking that Psyche worried over the most trivial things.

Despite of that he obediently remained seated on his desk, waiting for Psyche to continue.

"Um…" Psyche mumbled incoherently. "I—I know that maybe I'm worrying over nothing, but ever since today when we had that talk, something has been bugging me, that… maybe the new comer would come to like Tsu-chan… not as a friend, but as… You know.

"I don't know if this is too much to ask, b—but… could you please… grab his attention?" Psyche's voice was getting weaker word by word. The more he told Shitsuo about his request, the more he realized that jealousy had taken the better of him. And to think that he was jealous over someone he hasn't even met yet? Even Psyche himself didn't understand why he was. "Tsu-chan is really nice and everyone likes him, so—"

"I understand." Shitsuo's calming voice was heard from inside the room. Psyche blinked, trying to get rid of the budding tears that had started to blur his sight.

"You—You really don't mind?" Psyche asked once more.

"Yes." Shitsuo answered reassuringly.

Psyche smiled in relief. It was as if a heavy lump inside his chest had finally lifted. "Th—Thank you! Thank you so much, Shitsu-chan!" he wiped the tears that failed to roll down his cheeks. "I—I will repay you! What do you want me to do? Anything!" he bounced happily.

"You don't need to do anything."

"Shitsu-chaaan!" Psyche was trying so hard to hold himself from opening the door and give Shitsuo a big hug to show him his gratitude. He _really_ did want to hug Shitsuo, but he didn't want to cheat on Tsugaru. A man should remain loyal to his loved one! So instead, he bowed deeply, although he knew that Shitsuo wouldn't be able to see him bowing with the door closed.

"Thank you, Shitsu-chan!"

"You're welcome, Psyche." Psyche somehow could see Shitsuo smiling.

"Well then, I… I guess I'll just return to my room…" Psyche stroked the back of his head, feeling embarrassed after spilling so much. "Good night, Shitsu-chan!"

"Good night." Shitsuo replied. When he heard the sound of footsteps going further, he covered his mouth with his gloved hand to muffle a yawn.

"Let's call it a day…" Shitsuo whispered to himself. He put a bookmark on the page about the recipe he had read as he reminded himself to try the recipe tomorrow morning, before closing the cooking book, and turning off the desk lamp.

* * *

**:: EIGHT HOURS EARLIER**

When the morning of the scheduled day finally arrived, Shitsuo was still getting ready when Izaya—followed by Psyche—made their unauthorized way into his room.

"I would be very thankful if you remember to knock before coming in next time, Izaya-san," Shitsuo was still tying his black tie when Izaya stepped in.

"This is _my_ house," Izaya replied nonchalantly. "Well, that aside…" he handed out a crumpled piece of paper to Shitsuo, to which the latter wondered why the paper was so crumpled and why Izaya didn't make an attempt to rewrite it to make it more presentable.

"Remember this well, Shitsuo," the information broker, however, didn't look like he was feeling guilty at all. "Have I mentioned this before? Maybe, whatever," he shrugged. "Anyway, his name is Sakuraya, and he wears the exact hakama as Tsugaru's, only his is pink in color. He has my face. Meet him at Narita Airport, 11 AM, sharp. And he should notice you right away since I've sent him your photo."

Shitsuo nodded, sinking in every single information Izaya gave simultaneously without a pause. He secured the sad, crumpled paper inside the pocket of his swallowtail coat, before Psyche, who had been hiding behind Izaya, called his name nervously.

"Um… You still remember about our promise, right?" Psyche asked, his fingers busy playing with the buttons of his coat to keep himself from panicking. "I—I'm counting on you!"

"About _what?_" Izaya narrowed his eyes suspiciously.

"N—Nothing!" Psyche waved his hands restlessly. "I just told Shitsu-chan that he should go for grocery shopping and make a delicious dinner tonight!" Psyche took Izaya's arm and clutched onto it firmly. Izaya's curious eyes were so frightening! "Right, Iza-chan? We should give Sakuraya—I mean, Saku-chan, a warm welcome, right? Let's hold a party!"

Izaya shrugged. He knew that something was off with Psyche, but he knew better that Psyche must be in yet another senseless delusion, thus paying attention to it could only waste his precious time. "Whatever. Don't get lost and get back home before dinner," he ordered Shitsuo, sending him off.

Shitsuo, who had finished dressing up, nodded in reply before walking passed Izaya and Psyche, out of his room.

Psyche crossed his fingers hopefully and prayed, '_Don't let him fall in love with Tsu-chan, Shitsu-chan!_'

Izaya could feel his upper lip twitching over Psyche's weird behavior. "Just what's wrong with you, Psyche?"

Psyche jumped in shock and awkwardly released his apparently-too-strong grip off of Izaya's arm.

"Nothing!" he grinned sheepishly before taking slow steps back. "I—I'll just go wash the dishes for tonight's dinner!"

Before Izaya could even retort back, the pink-eyed raven was already out of the room.

* * *

**:: FOUR HOURS EARLIER**

Arrived half an hour earlier than scheduled, Shitsuo had been waiting for hours already at the arrival gate of the airport and he started to wonder whether they accidentally walked passed each other or whether Sakuraya had actually arrived much earlier and finally decided to go to Izaya's apartment on his own.

But that shouldn't be the case. Izaya had it written which flight Sakuraya took and the arrival time. There shouldn't be any mistake.

Exhaling deeply, Shitsuo took out his cellphone from the pocket of his coat and dialed Izaya's office number.

It was Namie Yagiri, Izaya's one and only secretary, who picked the call.

"Hello, this is Shitsuo," Shitsuo's voice was as calm and collected as ever, despite actually panicking right now. "I'm at the arrival gate of Narita Airport right now. I've been waiting for exactly two hours and fourteen minutes but I haven't seen Sakuraya-san yet."

"…I see." His lips curved into a slight frown when Namie told him that no one named Sakuraya came to Izaya's apartment yet.

Shitsuo ended the call in disappointment.

For the umpteenth time his eyes roamed through the arrival gate, feeling even more discouraged each time he saw passengers met their acquaintances and walked out of the building.

'_I should be home at least at 4 PM…_' Shitsuo reminded himself. He sighed in worry. But it was already passed 1 PM… The people living in Izaya's apartment usually had dinner around six because Izaya and Delic cared so much about their figures, while Hibiya believed that a great noble should live a healthy lifestyle. Not to mention that it took around an hour to prepare for a dinner, and it didn't make things better that tonight's dinner would be more elaborate than the usual, since they would be celebrating Sakuraya's arrival.

'_Should I look around once more?_'

* * *

**:: TWO HOURS EARLIER**

Shitsuo was already a panting mess. He ran his way throughout the whole building for two more hours, and now his body was feeling so hot from running and he had gotten rid of his swallowtail coat, vest, gloves—everything, leaving only his white shirt which sleeves had been rolled up to his elbows, and his jet black pants.

He wiped the sweat on his forehead and licked some more around his lips. He looked at his golden pocket watch, only to feel even more anxious since it was already 3 PM and he needed to arrive at Izaya's apartment in one hour. Which was impossible. Because even with little to no traffic, it should take him at least two hours by car to arrive at Shinjuku.

Giving up, he walked out of the building and got into his car, assuming that Sakuraya had indeed gone from the airport ahead of him and should be somewhere near Shinjuku. He prayed inside his mind so he could find Sakuraya on his way to Izaya's apartment.

* * *

**:: PRESENT TIME**

After driving through the highway for about two hours, Shitsuo finally arrived at Shinjuku and decided to go for a detour to Shinjuku Park, just across the biggest and busiest train station in Japan, Shinjuku Station. He parked his car somewhere near the train station before buying some drinks for himself. He was already an hour late from the dinner time, anyway, so he figured that Izaya must have already catered some foods for everyone and his presence wasn't needed anymore.

Perhaps it was true what they said, that when you were feeling down, it seemed like the whole world hated you.

He would be lying if he said that he didn't hate Sakuraya already, someone he hadn't even met yet.

With his shoulders slumped, he made his way into the big park, enjoying the Spring breeze under the golden light of the twilight sun. He tried to free his mind from negative thoughts and enjoy the view of cherry blossom trees around him. The flower petals were falling down beautifully from the trees, and the sound of tree leaves scraping onto each other, created a very relaxing atmosphere that could make anyone forget about all bad things in the world.

Who would have imagined that such a beautiful park existed just behind the bustling train station? It was as if this park was a hideaway place for those who need to find a break from their strangling routine.

"I didn't even realize that it's the cherry blossom flowers' blooming season right now…" Shitsuo whispered to himself. He slowly found himself able to smile again, despite a very thin one.

He was still walking slowly through the park, enjoying the beautiful scenery as he drank his bottled hot green tea, until his eyes found someone in pink hakama sitting on a grass field that was now fully covered in pink flower petals. The pink color of his clothes and the grass field matched each other it looked as if he diffused with the field itself. The long sleeves of his hakama were so long it covered his arms whole.

The man was smiling to himself, humming, as he was playing with a branch of cherry blossom flowers. As he sang a song he blew the flowers gently, watching as the petals blew into the sky, joining the rest that were falling down from the trees.

Shitsuo's eyes widened, he froze in fascination.

He knew right away that he was the man he had been looking so desperately for the past few hours. He had seen four men with a face identical to him, but the one who was sitting across him right now was the most beautiful of them all. In all honesty, he _was,_ probably, the most beautiful person he had ever seen in his life.

When the wind grew stronger, the long sleeves of his hakama flew along, in a way so beautiful, _so beautiful,_ it looked like he was one with the wind… The way his black, silky hair moved gracefully, in rhythm with the wind… And the way those red lips curved upward into the most beautiful smile…

If Shitsuo's jaw could drop, he swore, it would.

He blinked several times just to make sure that he was still on the grounds, thinking that this was just his hallucination since he just had the worst day of his life.

But no, the man was real.

The beautiful man was still there, sitting on the grass field.

* * *

Shitsuo couldn't move an inch even though his eyes could, following that person who was now walking barefoot toward him.

Closer. To. Him.

He was now standing right in front of Shitsuo.

"Hello," Sakuraya bowed to Shitsuo as an introduction, before studying Shitsuo's appearance as he tilted his head to a side.

He waited for Shitsuo's reply, but the latter remained stiff as a stone, so he reached out his arm and tugged the rolled sleeve of Shitsuo's shirt gently.

The blond butler didn't even realize that his cheeks were now beet red. Trying to calm his beating heart down, he swallowed a lump as he took a closer look at Sakuraya's face. The orbs of his eyes were soft pink in color, completely different to Psyche's magenta ones although both were pink. His long eyelashes framed his eyes in just the right way. Shitsuo secretly liked how contrast the color of Sakuraya's red lips and his pale skin.

"Hello?" Sakuraya tried once more as he waved his hand in front of Shitsuo's face.

Finally the taller man snapped from his daydream, jolting slightly in the process.

"Ah, I," Shitsuo didn't even have enough courage to look at Sakuraya in the eyes without blushing so much, so he looked to the pastel colored bricks where he was standing on instead as a distraction.

"Shitsuo-san, isn't it?" Sakuraya smiled kindly. "Izaya-san has told me about you."

Sakuraya took a few steps back and played around with his the long sleeves of his hakama, swinging them in the air playfully as he chuckled to himself. He spun on his feet, as if he was dancing on the ground, before stopping with his two feet touching each other. He looked straight at Shitsuo with his cherry blossom orbs.

"The flight arrived rather early so we might have missed each other," said Sakuraya. "I was looking for you at the airport, I really did. But there were some children looking for their home teacher on a field trip, so I went to help them," he smiled apologetically. "Turned out their group was already off, so I couldn't help but to help them find their group.

"…

"Hey, are you listening to me?" Sakuraya narrowed his eyes.

Despite not listening any of it, Shitsuo nodded. He still could feel his cheeks reddening, so he covered half of his face with his hand to hide it from Sakuraya. Like he could say out loud that he was actually too intoxicated by Sakuraya's voice rather than the content of the conversation.

"I'm sorry." Sakuraya bowed deeply. "Did you wait for too long? I don't have that much money right now, but it should be enough for a dinner."

"Ah," Shitsuo chuckled nervously. "I think we're already too late to have a dinner with everyone. I'm sorry to say that we might have to postpone your homecoming dinner…" He didn't know how to act in front of Sakuraya, it was as if all reasons had flown out of his mind and he couldn't think logically at all.

"I… I'm very sorry…" Sakuraya bowed deeper than before.

When he raised his head, he looked at Shitsuo with a smile drawn on his face. "Maybe we can eat at a fast food restaurant, then? But if you mind, then I'll be more than willing to help you cook…"

Shitsuo smiled, feeling a little less nervous. "Let's just go to the nearest supermarket, shall we? We can't keep them waiting."

Sakuraya was feeling so guilty he had to force a smile, "I… I'll go get my geta, then," he ran to where he was sitting earlier and put on his socks and geta.

Shitsuo watched in silence as Sakuraya ran back, coming to him.

He sighed inwardly, surrendered.

'_I… definitely, without doubt…_

_Am in love… with this man._'

* * *

_**FOOTNOTE - **__**Hakama:** TL;DR, Kimono, but simpler and more wearable. Minority of Japanese people still wear hakama on daily basis. __**Geta:** Traditional sandals with tall wedges (not really wedges but wedges). The cheaper ones are made from rubber, like flip-flops, but the one Sakuraya wears are the 'real' geta which are made of wood._

* * *

_**AUTHOR'S NOTE -** Hi! I've been dying to refine this story from a long time ago but finally got the time to actually do it! I sucked big, big time at this story. For those who didn't know, this is actually my very first fan fiction, ever, so there were lots of tweaks here and there. Plot-wise, I loved it, and am still liking this very much even now, but the way I wrote this story and the grammatical errors… It was so messy, I can't even…_

_Also, I haven't started on living in Japan when I wrote this so there were some 'weeaboo' stuffs in this chapter, but now that I've lived here for years, I've fixed the stuffs to the more accurate ones._

_I hope you enjoy this! My first baby… Hngggh…_


	2. Chapter 2

"They sure are taking their time, aren't they?" Tsukishima broke the indistinct chattering.

Weirdly enough, just like Izaya, Shitsuo was born a very punctual person. He would arrive at least half an hour before the scheduled time, making sure that he wasn't making anybody wait. Should he be late, that meant there was something really,_ really_ urgent that he had to do prior the meeting.

So when Shitsuo was an hour late just like now, it was completely normal that Tsukishima had started to panic.

Izaya was on a business trip so he wasn't present at the time, no calls went through Shitsuo's cellphone, and no one except Izaya knew how to contact Sakuraya. Everyone except Tsukishima probably thought that sitting in silence waiting for their return wouldn't make them arrive here any faster, anyway, so might as well wait for them while playing cards.

But it was indeed, very rare of Shitsuo to be so tardy.

His original, the wrath of Ikebukuro, Shizuo Heiwajima, had finally lost all of his patience. He took a cursing glance at a clock in the living room and grunted in annoyance. It was already 7 PM and no one has come yet. Waiting was never Shizuo's strongest point especially when the one he was waiting for was also someone who cooked the best desserts ever, so to keep his temper down, he went with Delic's idea to play cards together to kill some time.

Which was surprisingly, a really good idea, since he didn't realize that an hour had passed already.

But now he couldn't wait any longer.

So he growled angrily.

The youngest twin shivered, scared of Shizuo's furious growl. Just like how Ultraman's warning light blinked when he was getting tired, Shizuo's deep growl could only mean that he could snap at any moment. Tsukishima had no choice but to keep the ex-bartender distracted or else they might have to spend the night without an entrance door! He rose from the sofa and rubbed his cheek with his finger, apprehensive to disturb the fun. "M—Maybe I should go prepare for our dinner? I can't make it as delicious as Shitsuo-san does, but I think we're all hungry now…"

"That would be appreciated," Hibiya exhaled. He was starting to feel hungry, either.

Everyone else nodded in agreement, with some were actually too focused on their own cards they nodded absent-mindedly. Either way, Tsukishima put his cards on the coffee table right before the sofas and was about to walk to the kitchen, until a knock was heard from the entrance door.

"There they are!" Delic's ears perked up like an excited dog before sighing in relief. The blond host quickly jumped up, passing through Tsukishima and ran toward the entrance door. When he opened the door, he grinned widely as his magenta eyes found Shitsuo's red ones. "You took forever!"

"Good evening." Shitsuo greeted him with a bow. "Something unexpected happened so we couldn't be on time, so…" he glanced briefly at Sakuraya who was standing behind him, his eyes lurking through Izaya's apartment curiously. "I don't know if you've had your dinner or not, but if you haven't, Sakuraya here has decided to help me make dinner to make things faster… Although tonight's dinner would only be like the usual…"

Paying zero care to Shitsuo's words or whatnot, Delic's eyes twinkled mischievously, his shoulders trembled as he tried not to laugh.

"You two just met today and yet you're going to make a dinner together, already?" he smirked, with an I-see-what-you-did-there eyes. "What are you, newly-wed couple?"

"Delic!" Shitsuo reacted way too much despite himself.

"Why so serious?" Delic shrugged. "Come in!" he made a way for Shitsuo and Sakuraya to go inside, before closing the door.

When they finally stepped into the living room, Sakuraya was surprised at the amount of his 'twins'. Minus Izaya and himself, there should be three Izaya's look-a-likes. He had heard from Izaya that there should be some other who had the same face as his, but he never got the exact number. At first he thought that it would be very difficult to differentiate them, but surprisingly, they were really different, one to another, with their rich facial expressions and clothing. It shouldn't take long before he could get familiar with them.

Sakuraya bowed for the first time to everyone in the room and smiled brightly. "Nice to meet you, my name is Sakuraya," he introduced himself. "I might need some time to get used to things here, but please bear with me."

"A very polite person he is," Hibiya nodded in acknowledgement. He still didn't know why he would fall for some uncouth man like Delic, but in all honestly, he loved well-mannered people. "…Unlike a certain perverted commoner over there," he glared at Delic who caught his eyes and drew a flirting smile, to which the golden-eyed prince blushed in embarrassment.

"And… I'm deeply sorry for making everyone wait; it was all my fault!" Sakuraya deeply apologized, before getting down on his knees and bowed—which was so low, his head touched the floor.

Everyone in the living room stared at Sakuraya in silent. They were too surprised to even react to Sakuraya's over-politeness.

Shitsuo had never been late for everything before so they decided to wait for him instead of getting a dinner for themselves, believing that Shitsuo would surely come soon. But they didn't arrive until now, which was over an hour than the scheduled time. Sure, knowing that they came late with empty hands irritated them, but it wasn't that big of a deal that Sakuraya had to prostrate in front of them like that. If it were Shizuo or Delic, they would most likely just laugh the matter off, or rather, snapped back and said, "So why didn't you idiots get your dinner yourselves if you're so hungry, huh!?"

It was Shizuo who stopped Sakuraya from kneeling because the latter still hadn't raised his head even for an inch. "Oy, oy, it's not like we were starving to death."

Sakuraya slowly raised his head, and bowed some more despite himself. "I'm very sorry! I'll go prepare for the dinner right now!" he stood up on his feet, and was about to sprint off to the kitchen, before he stopped himself from running.

"…Where is the kitchen again?"

* * *

"He really is the mirror copy of Tsugaru, that Sakuraya…" Hachimenroppi mumbled faintly.

Eventually it weren't only Shitsuo and Sakuraya who went to prepare for the dinner. The sight of Sakuraya kneeling before them had them forgotten about how hungry they were really are, to the point of lending their hands to make things easier for him. Except Psyche, who followed Tsugaru because he just couldn't let his guard down with Sakuraya, and Delic, who found the whole cooking-together thing amusing.

The only ones who were too lazy to help: Shizuo, Hachimenroppi, and Hibiya, waited in the living room, as they listened to the sound of cookwares chinking from the kitchen.

"Overly polite, yet reserved," Hibiya nodded in agreement.

"They make a good couple, don't they? With their matching personalities and all…"

Hibiya's eyebrows twitched, his eyes narrowed. "So do Delic and Psyche. Are you implying that they also make a good couple?"

"I didn't say that…" Hachimenroppi glared back at the golden eyed prince.

"Just because you and Tsukishima were made at the same time, does not mean that you are the best couple in the world!" Hibiya scoffed heavily as he crossed his legs.

Hachimenroppi remained silent. He lowered his head, secretly feeling happy over Hibiya's words. '_Me and Tsukishima… The best couple in the world?_' his cheeks blushed pink. No, actually Hibiya said the exact opposite, but even the world knew already that just because he said something, didn't mean that he felt the same.

Hachimenroppi peeked at the door leading to the kitchen shyly. '_Tsukishima is so clumsy, so he shouldn't touch any knives at all…_' he mumbled inwardly. '_What if he accidentally cut himself? He can't be safe unless I'm by his side…_'

Before he knew it his legs were already walking toward the kitchen, leaving Hibiya who was still angry, and Shizuo who was too busy eating the desserts Shitsuo bought at the convenience store before coming here.

* * *

Inside the kitchen, Sakuraya, Shitsuo, and Tsukishima were preparing for the meal, while Tsugaru and Psyche helped preparing the plates in the dining room.

"So what are you doing here?" Hachimenroppi turned his head toward Delic who was sitting on an empty kitchen counter, obviously wasn't helping anything.

"I'm the supervisor, you know," Delic grinned as he waved his legs in the air. "What if your cute Tsuki-chan cut his fingers? I should be prepared for first-aids."

Hachimenroppi could feel hot steam coming out of his head from embarrassment.

"Don't say it like that…" he mumbled incoherently.

As if there was a Hachimenroppi's radar planted inside his head, Tsukishima quickly realized that he had come to the kitchen. The glasses boy whipped his head toward his boyfriend before smiling widely like a dog who finally met his master after being separated for days. "Roppi-san!" he strutted toward him. "What are you doing here?"

"I want to help, too," Hachimenroppi looked down to his feet, too shy to face the blond.

"But I thought you said that your jacket's sleeves were too long so you couldn't help?" Tsukishima tilted his head in confusion.

'_Even a brainless idiot knows that it was a big lie, an excuse!_' instead of feeling like Tsukishima was too stupid, he felt so guilty for deceiving his pure-hearted lover. '_He's way too innocent for his own good, that's why I can't leave him alone…_'

* * *

"I'm done with the soup," Sakuraya came into the dining room with a big hot pot in his hands.

Tsugaru, who was still putting cups of glasses onto the dining table, looked up as he smiled apologetically. "I'm sorry for making you cook, Sakuraya-san."

Sakuraya blushed as he shook his head. "N—No, it's alright…"

After he put the pot onto the stove placed on the dining table, he couldn't help but to secretly look at Tsugaru who was now standing beside him. He was about to ask Tsugaru to help him set the stove just so that he could converse more with the blond, but before he could even open his mouth, Psyche had already chirped his way in and hugged Tsugaru from behind.

Sakuraya could feel his chest hurting.

"Oh, are you done with the soup, Saku-chan?" Psyche asked, his head barely made it passed Tsugaru's shoulders.

"Yeah…" Sakuraya smiled awkwardly. "Psyche-san."

"Psyche-chan is fine!" Psyche smiled widely. "Call me Psyche-chan! I'll call you Saku-chan!"

"…Psyche-chan?" Sakuraya almost bit his own tongue. He had never called someone without formal honorific ever, and it didn't make anything better that he and Pscyhe barely knew each other since today was only their first day.

The hakama-clad raven then looked up at Tsugaru who smiled gently to him, before saying, "You can call me Tsugaru, too."

"Eh? B—But…" Sakuraya stuttered shyly. "You're not someone I should address so informally, Tsugaru-san…"

Tsugaru chuckled lightly. "I've been there, too, you know? We really have matching personalities," he reached out his arm before patting the crown of Sakuraya's head affectionately. "If you need something, don't hesitate and come to me, okay?"

Sakuraya nodded silently, his cheeks reddening. "Tsugaru-san…"

"Ah! This won't do! We still haven't set up the stove, yet!" like a lightning in the middle of a sunny day, Psyche's voice broke the warm atmosphere.

"You're right," Tsugaru pulled his hand from the top of Sakuraya's head and turned his body to Psyche.

Sakuraya sighed in disappointment. He didn't want to irritate Psyche furthermore so he said, "T—Then, I'll go help Shitsuo-san in the kitchen…"

Tsugaru nodded. "Don't push yourself too hard, you've done more than enough already."

"That's…" Sakuraya looked deeply into Tsugaru's eyes. "That's fine, because I… I love… cooking…"

Sakuraya and Tsugaru looked deeply into each other's eyes, which was too long for their own good from Psyche's perspective. He knew he was being very annoying right now, but there was no other way to distract these two other than tapping the dining table a little too loud than necessary.

"Tsu-chan! The stove!" he tugged at Tsugaru's sleeve. "And Saku-chan?" he faked a wide smile.

"Good luck helping Shitsu-chan, okay?"

"Ah, okay…" Sakuraya nodded awkwardly. "Well, then…" he walked out of the dining room after bowing to Psyche and Tsugaru.

* * *

It was true what they said that the longer you wait, the more you treasure what you spent your time waiting. Because when the long awaited dinner had finally started, the sight of everyone drooling over the steaming hot meal, deliciously presented on the dining table, was _real_. Despite Shitsuo being very modest and called the lavish dinner 'the same as the usual', everyone else clearly thought the opposite.

Just what did the butler called a usual dinner, really? Oh, just a big, searing hot pot filled with premium quality Matsuzaka beef specially shipped from Kobe— which price could easily reach two hundred dollars for a hundred grams. Not to mention that we were talking about ten stomachs that needed to be fed here. And the dinner wasn't just about the beef, but some more side dishes like tuna belly sushi—which was a staple for Izaya's meals, grilled mackerels, seasoned tofu, and rolled eggs.

That wasn't with the desserts included.

Without even realizing about it himself, Shitsuo made a dinner so lavish he nearly emptied out the refrigerator. All of this, for Sakuraya.

But everyone except the hakama-clad raven had taken Shitsuo's cooking skills for granted, they didn't even bat a single eyelash over the luxurious life they were living in. Moreover the bread-winner of the household, Izaya Orihara, who just finished with his business and came back just before the dinner started.

In the middle of the dinner, the information broker suddenly clapped his hands to get everyone's attention.

"Listen up!" Izaya swallowed a piece of beef and cleared his throat. "As we're all gathering here right now, which is a rare thing, really. I have a thing to say."

The most well-mannered people in the family—basically those who helped prepare for the dinner—obediently stopped eating and paid attention to Izaya, but Shizuo and Delic flat out ignored him like a floating plastic bag, ravishing the delicious dishes as if an apocalypse would happen in an hour and they would die knowing that there was still some delicious beef left in this world, uneaten. Psyche, he was too deep in his own rainbow-colored world to even properly listen to Izaya. The golden prince, Hibiya, ignored him for a whole different reason: As he scoffed, he said, in a condescending manner, "I am not taking anybody's orders."

Curiosity killed the cat. That would be the best description for Izaya right now. Got eaten by his own curiosity, he made several copies of himself and Shizuo to rule the world, but his creations had too much personalities of their own it was impossible to control them without losing a strand of hair or two from frustration.

The red-eyed raven gripped on his chopsticks angrily, and threw it straight to Shizuo and Delic, which unfortunately were caught easily by the blonds.

The ex-bartender, apparently, didn't like the idea of being disturbed during his meal. "Don't try to pick a fight, Flea." he growled, anger bubbling inside. Despite his words, though, he didn't look nearly as scary with his mouth stuffed to the brim with foods and cheeks bloated like a toad.

Having his thoughts delivered by Shizuo, Delic simply shrugged the matter off and put the chopstick back onto the table.

Since he knew he couldn't win in a fight with them, Izaya decided to let it go and continued on.

"Let's just ignore them. So starting today, Sakuraya will be living with us," Izaya had forgotten about his anger, and now was grinning joyfully because finally a perfect clone of his was made. Because his chopsticks were no longer, he stole Tsukishima's and poked Sakuraya's soft cheek gleefully.

"Ah, Izaya-san—" Sakuraya giggled.

"Unfortunaaately, we don't have any room left for him! But! Being born so difficult to control I had to go through several trial and errors wasn't my fault, so all of you have to go with this plan whether you like it or not," the information broker especially glared at Psyche and Hibiya a little longer than he did to Hachimenroppi. "So, I'm taking some space from two rooms to build another room for Sakuraya.

"So here we are, sitting together, discussing about the room arrangement," Izaya waved his arms in the air to emphasize his point. "Though I've already came up with the final plan and I'm not taking any opinion, so this is not a discussion, really. But, whatever!

"Me staying with Shizu-chan in the same room doesn't change. Obviously." Izaya nodded at his own words. "Hibiya and Hachimenroppi will sleep together because you two fight a lot and I'd like to see more of you fighting."

"Hey, what kind of logic was that!?" Hibiya slapped his hands on the table.

"Shitsuo with Tsukishima," it was now Izaya's turn to play the ignore game.

"Lastly, Tsugaru, Psyche, and Sakuraya." Izaya exhaled as he drew an evil smile toward Tsugaru, Psyche, and Sakuraya.

"Wait, that doesn't make sense!" Delic disrupted. "Where should I stay?"

"I don't know," Izaya shrugged. "Inside the hot pot with your lovely beef, I guess?"

Obviously everyone in the dining room knew this was just one of Izaya's schemes. After all, it would be far easier to place Sakuraya together with Shitsuo and be done with it; instead, the information broker set up the arrangement so maliciously well. He knew that Hibiya and Hachimenroppi had never really spoken with each other and weren't on good terms, unlike their boyfriends. He knew that Psyche was scared to death that Sakuraya might take Tsugaru away from him and wasn't happy that the two were getting along so well even on their first day. Yet he purposely put them in the same rooms.

But no one dared to literally deny Izaya, since he was, after all, the Izaya Orihara.

* * *

When the dinner ended, knowing that he would soon be in the same room with Psyche and Tsugaru, Sakuraya tried to make himself busy just to avoid sleeping together with them. He helped Shitsuo do the clean ups, even went as far as sweeping the entire floor, including the living room.

He knew that Psyche and Tsugaru were lovers.

He also knew how Psyche didn't really like him for this reason and how Izaya had set the whole thing up just to watch them fight for his own entertainment.

Thinking about those reasons, his conscience kept him on his grounds, telling him that it would only mean disaster if he ever tried to get his hands on Tsugaru.

Despite knowing all that very well, he couldn't stop his budding affection grow toward Tsugaru; the fact that deep, deep inside his heart, he actually wanted to sleep together with Tsugaru. He wanted to spend their time staring at the room ceiling together, sharing bed-time stories, until they get so sleepy they fall asleep.

He was now standing in front of the door leading to the room, his hand gripping on the door weakly, still indecisive. The raven bit on his lips, his mind in knots with hesitancy.

'_I'll just sleep in the living room…_' he yielded.

"Sakuraya?" a baritone voice was heard from behind.

Sakuraya turned his head and found Shitsuo standing not far from him. The blond butler looked less sharp in his pajamas, which consisted of a loose shirt and black pants.

"Shitsuo-san…"

"Can't you sleep?" asked Shitsuo as he walked closer.

"No, I…" Sakuraya looked down on his own feet. He couldn't tell Shitsuo that he felt like the third wheel between Tsugaru and Psyche, and was too afraid to come into the room and sleep together with them.

Shitsuo, however, didn't need any more clue to understand what was going on, when he saw that Sakuraya was clutching the doorknob. '_So that's why he was so eager on doing the chores earlier… He doesn't want to get in between Psyche and Tsugaru._'

"It's already 1 AM," Shitsuo smiled. "If sleeping with them bothers you that much, I can sleep with you in the living room."

"Are you sure?"

The blond nodded.

Sakuraya glanced at the closed door with an unreadable expression, before smiling bitterly to Shitsuo. "Thank you very much for offering, but I can sleep by myself, Shitsuo-san. You should sleep on your bed; it's not really comfortable sleeping on a sofa," he bowed to Shitsuo and excused himself to the living room.

The hakama-clad raven laid himself on the sofa in the living room, and just like what he had said, it was uncomfortable. But all the more being an annoyance to Tsugaru and Psyche. Going in there would only mean that he didn't know his place despite being a newcomer.

* * *

Shitsuo had tried several times to sleep but he still couldn't get Sakuraya out of his mind. He was worrying whether Sakuraya could sleep well or not, whether he was feeling too cold without any blanket or uncomfortable without the support of pillows.

When the blond butler couldn't stand it anymore, he jumped out of his bed with a blanket and a pillow in his hands, and walked out of the room. His eyes quickly found the sight of Sakuraya sleeping on the sofa in the living room. With his hand on the rail of the stairs, he walked down, eyes glued tightly to his first love. The man was sleeping, his chest moved up and down in rhythm with his breathing.

Slow and silently, Shitsuo lifted Sakuraya's head, all the while burning the sensation of the raven's soft strands tangled between his fingers. He put his own pillow under Sakuraya's head, before gently laying his head back onto the soft pillow. He didn't even know when, but he was already smiling to himself. It was the first time in his life he felt like helping someone out of love, instead of obligation.

He was so in trance he almost forgot to lay out the blanket on Sakuraya.

Sighing to his sad self for being so desperately in love, Shitsuo put on the blanket and wrapped it on Sakuraya's body, making sure that he was covered all over with no single toe peeking out.

His brain told him that his job had finished and he needed to get back to his room lest he would wake Sakuraya up, but his heart told him that it was okay to spend some more time with the man he loved. Usually the diligent butler would choose his brain over his heart without a second thought, but now he listened to the opposite.

The blond butler stayed beside Sakuraya, watched in silent as he was sleeping soundly. He was as beautiful as ever, and Shitsuo felt like he fell in love all over again with him. Even though the moonlight peeking from the windows was the only source of light they got, Sakuraya's beauty radiated all the same. Unable to control his heart, Shitsuo finally braved himself to stroke Sakuraya's hair, sweeping the black strands of hair to get a better look of his face.

Shitsuo couldn't help but smiled lovingly.

Before he knew it, he was already lowering his head, slowly closing the gap between them.

As their lips touched, Shitsuo could feel the softness of Sakuraya's lips.

He closed his eyes tightly, burning the warm kiss into his memory.

"Tsugaru…" Sakuraya whispered as he sighed. "Tsugaru-san…"

Just like that, the blond was sent back into reality.

Swallowing a heavy lump that had been building in his throat, he pulled himself out of the suave kiss.

Having his heart broken, Shitsuo quickly made his way back to his room.

* * *

Tsugaru opened his eyes in a sudden. He was breathing unevenly and his hands were covered in cold sweat.

"A bad dream?" he whispered to himself as he tried to catch his breath.

'_…How could I even dream of Psyche marrying another man…_' now that he had got his clear mind back, the bad dream he was having sounded like a joke. '_To think same-sex marriage doesn't even exist in this country…_'

He turned his body to look at Psyche.

'_See? He's still here with me,_' Tsugaru smiled in relief.

He was about to go back to sleep when he thought that the bed was a bit too large for two people, until he realized that a single bed was added right next to the double bed they were sleeping in, and that the bed was supposed to be Sakuraya's.

But the bed was empty; rather, it looked as if no one had slept on it yet.

It was then he realized that Sakuraya wasn't even sleeping in that bed, that he was probably too reluctant to sleep with him and Psyche.

Somehow he knew that Sakuraya would be sleeping in the living room all by himself. Feeling guilty, Tsugaru got on his feet. He tried to walk as discreetly as possible to keep Psyche from waking, before going out of the room. Sure enough, he found Sakuraya sleeping on the sofa, with a blanket covering him.

Tsugaru walked down to the living room and sighed in pity to the poor guy.

'_Today was his first day and we should have celebrated his coming here in a more proper way, instead we made him cook for the dinner, wash our dishes, and cleaned the apartment…_' Tsugaru thought inwardly. '_Who, in their right minds, could let someone like him sleep uncomfortably?_'

Without saying another word, he took the blanket off and hanged it on Sakuraya's shoulders, before picking up the petite body into his arms. The blond carried him to their room, in hope that Sakuraya would sleep more comfortably for the rest of the night.

Still half-asleep, Sakuraya opened his eyes. When he saw the sight of his own knees moving around, he realized that he was being carried by someone. Curious, he raised his head, and found the face of the person carrying him.

"…Tsugaru-san?" his voice was barely above a whisper.

Tsugaru looked down and smiled apologetically. "Ah, I'm sorry. Did I wake you up?"

Sakuraya shook his head weakly. He still hadn't fully woken up yet, but somehow he had a vague memory about being kissed by someone.

Was it a dream? But it felt a little too real for a dream…

"Why are you carrying me, Tsugaru-san?" Sakuraya's heart suddenly thumped louder. Could it be that it was Tsugaru who kissed him just now? Was it real?

"You shouldn't have slept there, it's not good for your health," Tsugaru replied as he chuckled. "You don't need to restrain yourself, you know? This is your house as well."

'_Did he really kiss me, and now carrying me to bed?_' Sakuraya couldn't think straight, being securely wrapped inside Tsugaru's arms. His felt his cheeks reddening in hopefulness. If it was really Tsugaru who kissed him, did that mean he had the chance to win him over Psyche? Did that mean that it was okay to give it a try, after all?

'_Does that mean… you love me, too?_'

* * *

_**Author's Note -** Another long chapter! It was so fun refining this story. It has been too long so I find myself reading it like this wasn't something that I've made. Just like the first chapter, there were tons of fixes!_

_Let me know if you liked this chapter! See you soon on the next chapter!_


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